


What Love Is

by exoticmermaid



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Fluff, M/M, Oblivious Byun Baekhyun, Past Abuse, Pining, Smut, Whipped Park Chanyeol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:14:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28754946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exoticmermaid/pseuds/exoticmermaid
Summary: Chanyeol had never thought that he would meet his mate when he brought his puppy to the vet. And he made it his mission to make the other realized that they were mates, and to show him what love was like.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 19
Kudos: 98





	1. The Vet

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a tweetfic of mine hehe. Each chapter will be quite short, but hopefully I'll be able to update fast that way. Hope you enjoy it!

It was a bright summer morning, with the sun already beaming bright even when it was barely 7. It would be a hot day for sure, and Junmyeon knew too well that there would be a lot of animals coming to his house for a little drink and some snack. He owned a pet clinic, being a veterinarian, and somehow the strays in his neighborhood knew that he was the person to see if they needed food and lots of petting. Sometimes they showed their gratitude by bringing dead bird or half a rat. It was okay, he never minded anyway.

After a shower and a breakfast, he got ready to open his clinic. Again, although there might not be new patients for that day, some strays might stay in front of his door, waiting for him to give them what they needed. His mother had always told him that he was too kind, but he thought there was nothing wrong about being kind.

When he walked to his door, he noticed there was a figure standing outside already. It was a human—an omega, from the sweet scent they emitted. The sweet vanilla smelt a little bit burnt, something that was very common to appear when the omega was distressed. Hurriedly, Junmyeon unlocked the door and greeted the person on the other side. Only his voice never came out; he was too shocked to say anything.

His mother had always told him that he was too kind, and it would bring him trouble in the future. But even though Junmyeon knew that, he still let the person in.

***

“Oh, stay still, won’t you?”

Chanyeol struggled to keep the puppy still in his hold. He was never good with the corgi. For some reason, the puppy seemed to hate him and always did what he told him not to. Just this morning, the puppy ran outside the moment Chanyeol let his guard down, and ended up having his hind leg sprained. Even after the incident, the puppy still tried to do the opposite of what he said by squirming to get out of his hold.

“We’re almost there,” Chanyeol grunted. “If you’re lucky we don’t have to wait. God bless Junmyeon if he already opened his clinic this early.”

The alpha walked faster when the puppy was trying to get off of his hold, then whimpering _as if_ he was the one that hurt the puppy. The road was thankfully still empty, so in no time, he arrived in front of Junmyeon’s clinic.

He was already sweating by the time he knocked on the door—the sun had been beaming too brightly even though it was quite early. He knew he was supposed to do something with his scent being all over the place, but figured it would be okay since Junmyeon was a beta and wouldn’t be affected too much.

The door wasn’t opened immediately, although he could hear voices from the other part of the door. He wouldn’t mind to leave, but knowing his puppy, he would only hurt himself more if he was not tended as soon as possible.

“Jun? It’s Yeol. Mong sprained his leg… I think. Are you busy? Should I be back later?” He asked loudly, knowing that his voice would be heard. There was silence for a split second before he saw the curtain was opened and a part of Junmyeon’s face was visible. Then the door was unlocked.

“Hey, is it a bad time, man? I wouldn’t come this early if it weren’t for—” Chanyeol stopped talking the moment he got inside. There was a sweet scent all over the place, an omega’s scent. But this time, it was different than the other times he had smelled an omega’s scent. He could feel a magnetic pull towards the scent, as if he was intoxicated. The scent was luring him, urging him to find out who was the owner of such heavenly scent. He had even forgotten about the puppy in his hold, too fixed in finding from where the sweet scent was coming.

“It’s a bad time, actually,” Junmyeon said, taking the puppy from his hold. “I’ll check Mong in a few minutes, but I have a more urgent matter to attend to.”

The alpha looked like he didn’t listen to a word he said, not even realizing the puppy was no longer in his hold. He was still sniffing, trying to figure out _why_ the scent was different than other omega’s, why it was sweeter, why it bothered his wolf so. Unconsciously, he had started move around, walking to follow the scent. He only snapped out of it when he felt a dull pain on the back of his head.

“What the—”

“Get it together, Park Chanyeol, or you’ll have to get out of my house,” Junmyeon threatened, for once looking scary and dangerous. He put the puppy inside the cage after giving him the first aid so that he didn’t hurt his leg further.

“Control your pheromones,” the vet hissed as he stood in front of Chanyeol.

“What—Jun, who’s inside?” Chanyeol asked, starting to get restless because for some reason, his wolf was clawing at him urgently, telling him to ignore Junmyeon and find the other wolf. “Is that—is that your omega?”

“No, it’s not. It’s someone I know. Can you control yourself? He’s just got here too and I don’t know what the fuck happened to him, but I know he doesn’t need you to stress him more with your pheromones.”

It took a lot of effort for Chanyeol to calm his wolf down; all the while Junmyeon was tending to Mong’s wound, since he knew it would take a while for Chanyeol to do so. The scent of the omega was still invading his own senses, but it seemed as if the omega had calmed down too. The little burnt from his scent had disappeared, replaced by pure sweet scent of vanilla. And somehow, knowing that little fact made him think clearer.

“Are you okay now?” Junmyeon asked.

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess so.” Chanyeol took another deep breath to make sure that he had his pheromones at bay.

The vet sighed and stared at Chanyeol intently. The alpha still looked a little restless from the omega’s scent, but he knew Chanyeol too well to know that he wouldn’t do anything crazy.

“Who is it?” Chanyeol asked quietly.

“I’ll tell you, but don’t freak out,” Junmyeon said. It pissed Chanyeol off a little because he made it seem as if he was one of those wolves who couldn’t control themselves. But then he was reminded about how he acted earlier—how his wolf became uneasy at the scent of the omega.

“Remember that there’s an omega here, and he’s been through something horrible, from the way I saw it earlier. Keep your emotions in control,” the beta reminded again.

“I will,” Chanyeol said, a little bit too quickly to sound convincing. “I will, Myeon. I promise.”

“Okay. Remember when I told you about the omega I frequently visit? The one that lived with that crazy old Lee Junho?” Junmyeon started slowly.

At the mention of the alpha, Chanyeol became tense again. It was not a secret that Lee Junho was one crazy alpha. Not only he was stinking rich because of his shady business that made him practically untouchable, he also had the hobby to _collect_ young omegas, and throw them away the moment he got a new one.

“He’s the one?” He asked through gritted teeth, trying his best to control his alpha because _how could someone do such things to omegas like they were nothing?_ As someone who grew up with a loving omega mother and an omega sister that doted on him, Chanyeol was taught to respect omegas and always help them. The thought of Lee Junho made his blood boil.

He recalled Junmyeon mentioning the new omega Lee Junho got around a year ago. He was barely legal at that time, and hadn’t got his first heat yet. Said his father gave him to Junho to insure his investment in his business. It was hard for him to believe at first—to think that a father would do that to their own child. But he knew what people would do for money; what greed would make people do. Chanyeol remembered almost puking when Junmyeon first talked about the omega because of how immoral he thought Lee Junho was.

_“Very young and sweet, but so skinny. He told me his father didn’t really care about him and only gave money when he had some. But what good did take outs and junk food do to a teenage body, Yeol? Still… even though his house was a shit hole, it’s a thousand times better than Lee Junho’s mansion. I mean—he did tell me that that crazy fuck hasn’t done anything but that’s because he hadn’t got his heat yet. At this point, I wish it would be that way for long so that he was returned to his home.”_

Chanyeol shivered in anger at the reminder.

“Yes,” Junmyeon confirmed. “He—he came, just ten minutes before you arrived. He looked… lost? Confused, like he didn’t know what to do. He was trembling, shaking so bad I thought he was going to lose it. But before I could ask, you came. I asked him to stay in my living room and calm down with a glass of chamomile.”

The thought of this faceless omega, trembling out of fear, probably because of something that the fucking alpha did, made Chanyeol’s wolf howl. He hated nothing more than lowlife wolves that called themselves alphas when they acted nothing different than those feral wolves, doing whatever they liked just because of their strength and pheromones.

“Yeol, calm down,” Junmyeon snapped again when Chanyeol’s anger seeped out of his body. Faintly, they could hear the omega whimpered from behind the door that would lead to Junmyeon’s living room. Chanyeol’s wolf whimpered too at the thought of scaring the omega.

 _Pull yourself together_ , Chanyeol reprimanded himself. He didn’t want the poor omega to think that the anger was directed at him, or that he was in danger when he was actually at the most possibly safest place in their neighborhood.

“Can we,” Chanyeol said after a while, “can we see him now? I—I want to help, Jun.”

Junmyeon was quiet for a while as he thought deeply. When Chanyeol thought he was going to forbid him, the vet nodded.

“I’m going to go inside first and talk to him, okay? Don’t come in unless I said so.” Chanyeol nodded, all too eager. He moved a little bit further than the door so that his scent didn’t scare the omega that much. It seemed to work, because when Junmyeon opened the door and walked in, he could faintly smell that the omega was calm, just a little confused.

 _“Are you okay now, Hyunnie?”_ There was no answer, so Chanyeol figured the omega must have nodded. _“Okay. Before we talk, there’s someone else that’s going to join us. Is it okay?”_ He heard Junmyeon softly said.

 _“Someone?”_ Chanyeol’s stomach churned at the omega’s voice—something that had never happened before. He figured it must be because how pretty it sounded.

 _“A friend of yours, Myeonnie?”_ The omega’s voice sounded so cheerful that it was quite hard to believe that Junmyeon said he was trembling in fear before. Chanyeol couldn’t stop the smile that appeared on his face because of it.

_“Yes, Baek, a good friend of mine. But he’s an alpha. Are you okay with that?”_

Chanyeol felt like his heart was stuck in his throat as he waited for the omega to respond. For an unknown reason, he desperately wanted to see this omega, and knew that his heart would be broken if it turned out that the omega refused to see him. He would understand, given the circumstances, but still heart broken.

 _“Good alpha?”_ The omega asked, uncertainty laced in his voice.

 _“Good alpha,”_ Junmyeon confirmed. _“He’s very kind, and he’d like to be a friend of yours too, Hyunnie. He’d like to help you.”_

 _“Hmm,”_ the omega hummed, and the mental image of someone pouting just appeared in Chanyeol’s mind, making him more eager to see what the other looked like. “ _Okay then.”_

The alpha released the breath he didn’t know he was holding. He took a deep inhale as he tried to calm himself, to keep his pheromones in control. The last thing he wanted was to appear scary, to turn the omega into a pitiful trembling little wolf again.

Junmyeon appeared again and smiled, though still a little wary. “You can come in, Yeol.” He opened the door a little wider.

Chanyeol walked inside the living room slowly. The first thing he noticed was the vanilla scent that had his wolf clawing inside his heart. It was much stronger there, and much more intoxicating. He had never been _that_ affected by a scent before.

Then he noticed the honey brown hair that had to be the softest hair in the world, looking a little bit disheveled as if the wind had messed it up. After that was the small figure, looking so delicate that it made Chanyeol want to do nothing but protect him from all things evil.

And when the omega turned, Chanyeol swore the world stopped moving.

A pair of brown orbs was looking at him curiously, staring straight into his eyes without fear, looking almost happy even. Then, there was a pair of pink lips that formed a small smile, turning the droopy eyes into crescents. Chanyeol’s wolf was howling inside his heart, accompanying the sound of the organ beating loudly, louder than ever before, that he was afraid it would stop all of the sudden.

And even though he had never experienced it before, Chanyeol knew it could only mean one thing. There could only be one explanation for all of these—the way the omega’s scent was so enticing, the way his wolf was being restless, the way his heart beat loudly when the omega looked at him.

“Hello,” the omega said, voice was so angelic, Chanyeol was sure even heaven didn’t sound like that. “I’m Baekhyun.”

 _Baekhyun_ , his wolf repeated.

_Mate._


	2. Scent

Baekhyun had been feeling ill.

He wasn’t sure if it was because of staying up late, or because of something he ate, but he woke up before dawn with a painful stomach. Looking outside of his window, he realized that it was still dark outside. He tried to go back to sleep then, humming little tunes he had heard when he was younger. Usually it worked, but that day, it didn’t.

Tiredly, he got out of his bed. He knew he was supposed to go to bed and get some more sleep, knowing that Junho wouldn’t let him rest until the moon came to say hi again. If he didn’t get enough sleep, he would be tired so soon later, or he would yawn a lot, or even fell asleep, and none of those things would end up good for him. He had too many shouts recorded inside his head and too many slaps tattooed on his cheeks to know the consequences.

So the little omega sneaked out of his room to go to the kitchen. Maybe a glass of water would help. Or a glass of milk, if he could find any. For someone that was so rich, Baekhyun couldn’t understand why Junho rarely had milk inside his huge fridge. But then again, he was the only one who drank milk in that mansion, and Junho rarely got him what he wanted.

Tiptoeing like a little thief, he walked down the hall to the stairs. He had only walked up right in front of Junho’s bedroom door when he heard the _noises_. Oh, how much he hated those noises, knowing what the cause of such screams, such groans was. The stench of their pheromones had managed to slip through the little gaps on the door, making him feel like throwing up.

He had never liked Junho’s scent. Of course he wouldn’t know what other alphas’ scents smelled like, since he had only met three alphas in his life. His father smelled like burnt wood and cigarettes—though he was sure the cigarettes became his scent only because he smoked too much since it wasn’t there when he was younger. Junho’s right hand, the other alpha, smelled like grass. It was not bad, but somehow his scent was too weak that he rarely smelled it even if the alpha was standing close to him.

And Junho, he smelled like something rotten.

That break of dawn, together with whoever he was having in his bed, they smelled like rotten apples. But even then the unpleasant scent was still strong, because Junho was a strong alpha after all. So, weakened by the pheromones they emitted, Baekhyun slowly walked back to his room. He wished it wouldn’t be so long until morning came and he could get out of his room without angering the alpha.

But when morning did come, he wished it never did.

***

Chanyeol couldn’t stop staring at the omega in front of him. _Baekhyun_ , he repeated again and again. _My mate. His name is Baekhyun. My mate is here, and his name is Baekhyun_. Never in his life had he ever thought that he would meet his mate this way. He didn’t even think that he would meet his mate at all.

But there he was, standing in front of him.

His mate.

 _That was sold to Junho by his own father_.

At the realization, Chanyeol unconsciously frowned and growled, detesting the idea, wanting to rip the alpha for treating his mate that way. But before he could even think about what he was doing, he felt a familiar dull pain on the back of his head.

“ _Get it together, Chanyeol_ ,” Junmyeon snarled. “You’re scaring him!”

Chanyeol immediately realized that Baekhyun was emitting that burnt scent again. And when he looked at him, the poor boy was frowning and shaking, looking like he was close to crying. Junmyeon had walked to Baekhyun in order to comfort him. The moment he was by his side, Baekhyun immediately hid behind him, fingers clutching tightly at his shirt.

“Oh my God, I’m sorry,” Chanyeol spluttered out in panic. He tried to move closer, but the omega _shrieked_ when he took a step and he froze.

“ _Said he was nice_ ,” Baekhyun whimpered quietly. Those words were meant only for Junmyeon to hear, but Chanyeol’s ears caught them and it pained him to think that his mate thought _he_ was threatening, that he was as bad as Junho.

“He is nice,” he heard Junmyeon said. “He’s just… he’s just being stupid. But I promise he won’t harm you, Baekkie.”

Baekhyun peeked from Junmyeon’s shoulder to look at him, but immediately hid behind his back again when Chanyeol looked back into his eyes. His wolf whined at the gesture.

“Hey, I’m sorry. I’m—I’m not angry, okay?” He tried softly, not moving closer to show Baekhyun that he meant no harm. “I won’t hurt you. I promise. I’m sorry for scaring you, Baekhyun.”

The omega peeked again, and if he hadn’t just scared his mate because he couldn’t control himself, Chanyeol would have cooed at how adorable he looked.

“Pinky swear?” He heard the omega asked.

“Yes, _yes_. Pinky swear. I won’t harm you,” Chanyeol lifted his right pinky just because.

It seemed like the right thing to do, because Baekhyun moved to Junmyeon’s side, although still holding on to his arm tightly. “You didn’t introduce yourself,” he said accusingly.

“What?”

“I told you my name, but you never told me yours, Alpha,” Baekhyun explained, pouting just like what Chanyeol had imagined before. And he had never seen anyone looking so adorable pouting like that.

“Right. You’re absolutely right. I guess I _was_ being stupid.” The omega giggled a little at that and Chanyeol knew he would fight the whole world to hear that beautiful sound again and again. “My name is Chanyeol. Park Chanyeol. Nice to meet you, Baekhyun,” he said with a smile.

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said, testing the name in his tongue. It wasn’t fair how Chanyeol’s heart just beat abnormally at the way his name sounded in Baekhyun’s voice.

“Okay, now let’s sit down,” Junmyeon suddenly interrupted, as if sensing that Chanyeol wouldn’t be able to function for a while. He led the omega to sit on the sofa with him, leaving Chanyeol to sit on the armchair.

“Baekhyun,” the vet started slowly. “Can you tell us what happened to you? Why were you trembling and looked like you were in a deep trouble, Baek?”

Baekhyun looked surprised, as if he had just remembered the reason for his coming. All of the sudden, the burnt scent appeared again, filling in the spacious room quickly. The omega’s hands started to tremble again as he brought them to cover his face.

“Shh, shh, Baekhyun you’re save here,” Junmyeon tried to stop the poor boy from having a panic attack. But it was not working, as Baekhyun was still covering his face and shaking in fear.

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol called him softly, desperately wanting his mate to calm down. He emitted his scent a little, trying to see if it would make Baekhyun stop trembling. “Calm down.”

As if his words were magic, Baekhyun slowly stopped trembling. There was a sense of pride in him when the omega inhaled his scent deeply, and sighed as if he was relieved. Slowly, he lowered his hands and put them on his stomach, clutching his t-shirt tightly.

Chanyeol pretended not to see the curious stare Junmyeon was sending him.

“Can you tell us now, Baekhyun?” He asked gently. “Let us know so we can help you.”

It took Baekhyun a while to answer. There was a frown sitting on his face, and Chanyeol could tell that he was busy rearranging, erasing, and thinking of the words he was about to say. Unconsciously, he let his pheromones out again, just because the frown was so unfitting on such delicate face.

“Last night,” Baekhyun started finally. His voice was so soft that if Chanyeol’s body didn’t function for the omega, he would have missed it. “I—I was awakened because my tummy hurt. I couldn’t sleep but it was quite early so… so I thought of having something warm to drink.”

The boy took a deep breath, fingers finding Junmyeon’s and held them tightly.

“I heard—I heard _noises_ coming from… from _his_ room,” his cheeks turned red, but he looked so close to tears. “And it’s… it’s not something unusual, I mean, he… he brings people to his bed.”

Chanyeol’s blood boil at Baekhyun’s words; his stomach was churning in disgust. Did he bring Baekhyun to his bed too? He wondered. Or—did that fucking alpha _share_ him? Before Chanyeol could drown himself in anger, he was distracted by the little sobs that came out of Baekhyun’s lips.

The sight was heartbreaking—the way the tears dropped down his face, the way his button nose turned red, the way his lips were quivering as he sobbed. Chanyeol wasn’t thinking when he immediately moved to Baekhyun’s side, sitting on the floor next to his leg, and grabbed his fingers.

“Don’t cry,” he softly said, although he also felt like crying because his mate didn’t deserve to cry in such pain. “We’re going to help you. Please don’t cry.”

Baekhyun looked taken aback, but squeezed Chanyeol’s fingers anyway. It was their first physical contact, and when alphas usually gave him goose bumps and fear, this alpha filled him with warmth instead. The touch of the alpha’s hand didn’t feel disgusting, or scary, but felt like pure comfort—something he hadn’t experienced lately.

When Baekhyun’s stream of tears had turned into little droplets, he started again.

“There’s this alpha,” he whispered, “his right hand—Hyungjun. He… he’s always there and never really does anything. I—I guess he’s like an assistant, maybe.”

“He—he woke me up,” Baekhyun choked, squeezing Chanyeol’s hand tighter. “I’ve—I’ve never seen him _so mad_ before. B-but he was very angry, and, and smelled _so bad_. I—I was so scared, so scared that I just sat on my bed. I thought—I thought he wanted to hurt me.” Baekhyun’s voice disappeared towards the end as he relived the fear that happened barely an hour ago.

Junmyeon gave the cup of chamomile tea to Baekhyun as Chanyeol continued rubbing circles and emitting calming pheromones. It was so hard to do it when he was raging inside, but the thought of scaring the omega further was enough to shove that anger—for now.

“He—he told me to run,” Baekhyun continued in his hoarse voice. “Was so—was so _confused_ and _scared_. Told me to run and never, _never_ return if—if I don’t want to end up like _him_.”

“What do you mean, Baekhyun?” Junmyeon asked carefully.

The omega looked at them, horror in his face. Tears were streaming down his face again, and the hold on Chanyeol’s hand was painful, but he knew that it was nothing in compare to what the poor boy must have been through.

“He _killed him_. Junho—Junho is dead.”

***

Junmyeon went to his bed to make a phone call to a friend he knew at the police to ask about the murder. He asked Chanyeol to stay with Baekhyun, seeing how the omega was still clutching at his hand, not wanting to let go. The boy had been silent for a while, after another round of crying. Chanyeol remained seated on the floor next to him, not daring to move because he was afraid he’d startle the omega.

There was a lot that he would like to ask, actually. Like how the omega was sold to Junho in the first place. Or had Junho ever done anything against his will. Had he ever been hurt while he was there? Had he been eating properly? Maybe not, from how Chanyeol could easily break away from what seemed to be Baekhyun’s tightest grasp.

And he wanted to ask about them too. Did Baekhyun realize they were mates? From the way he immediately calmed down when Chanyeol asked him to, and from the way he was easily influenced by Chanyeol’s pheromones, there was no way he didn’t know, right?

But looking at his mate still shaken, still completely terrified, Chanyeol decided to keep his questions to himself. They would have more times later, hopefully, if the omega wanted to. The only thing he wanted to focus on at that time was to stop his tears and keep him safe.

“Chanyeol.”

“Yes? Anything I can get you, Baek?”

The omega looked at him and giggled softly, probably because how quickly he answered him. “No. Nothing, Chanyeol. I just—I wondered why you came to Jun’s so early.”

“Oh, well, I have a puppy and—”

“You have a puppy?” Baekhyun cut him off. The little gasp that followed his question was as adorable as his expression and Chanyeol’s heart weakened at that.

“I do,” he smiled. “Do you want to see him?”

“Oh, can I?” Baekhyun asked excitedly.

“Sure,” Chanyeol gave the little hand in his hold a gentle squeeze. “Come on.” He stood up, not caring that his legs had pins and needles from sitting in one position for too long. The omega stood up too, and it warmed his heart that he was still holding his hand. When they were standing that close next to each other, Chanyeol noticed that the omega was so small. Not that he was short—Chanyeol knew he was as tall as Junmyeon if not a centimeter more—but because he was so skinny, it gave the illusion that he was smaller than actual.

He led them to Junmyeon’s clinic, where Mong immediately barked when he noticed Chanyeol.

“This is Mong,” he said, using his free hand to lift the cage Mong was in and place it on the table. The puppy barked at him, but stared curiously at the new face.

“Is he okay?” Baekhyun asked with a pout. He was still standing a little bit behind Chanyeol, not really coming to see the puppy as Chanyeol had expected because he sounded so excited earlier.

“He sprained his leg, but Junmyeon will heal him nicely. Don’t you want to touch?”

“Will he bite?”

“Of course, no. He’s a little bit of a troublemaker, but he’s not harmful.” Chanyeol let go of Baekhyun’s hand reluctantly to get the puppy out of its cage. He missed the disappointed look on Baekhyun’s face.

“Here, try to pet him,” the alpha held the puppy tightly, making sure he wouldn’t try to scramble away and scare Baekhyun.

Hesitatingly, Baekhyun touched the puppy’s head before taking his hand back as if someone was about to bite him off. It made Chanyeol laugh a little, at how cute he was.

“He won’t bite, I promise. Try touching him a little longer,” he said, using one hand to scratch Mong’s round belly.

Baekhyun did as he said. He yelped in surprise and giggled when Mong licked his hand. “It tickles,” he said, but still letting the dog licked him.

“He likes you,” Chanyeol said softly.

“Really?” Baekhyun asked, looking at him with a small smile of his face. His smile turned wider when Chanyeol nodded, looking somewhat like a square. “I like him too.”

They played with the puppy a little more until he got tired and ignored them. Chanyeol put him back in his cage, and the moment his hands were free from the puppy, Baekhyun’s fingers were curled on the sleeve of his t-shirt. His wolf was howling in victory.

“Yeol,” Baekhyun called once they were back in the sofa. “Do you wear perfume?”

Chanyeol pretended he wasn’t affected by the shortened version of his name. “No. Why? Do I stink? I was sweating a little when I walked here since it was hot out and Mong was being difficult,” he asked panicky, distancing himself a little just in case he was stinky.

The omega shook his head and giggled. “No, you—you smell good,” he said, his cheeks turned into the prettiest shade of pink Chanyeol had ever seen. “I didn’t know alphas can smell good.”

It was Chanyeol’s turn to blush. He wanted to correct him, actually, to tell him that he probably smelled good because they were mates. But it seemed as if Baekhyun hadn’t noticed yet, and he didn’t want to pressure him, or worse, scare him off.

“You smell good too, Baekhyun,” he said in the end. The omega blushed even more at his words.

There was something more that Baekhyun wanted to say. Like how the alpha didn’t only smell good, but smelled _so good_ that he wanted to keep smelling his scent. And how the alpha’s scent made him feel safe somehow, safe and warm, even when he knew he wasn’t safe—at least not yet. But he didn’t know if it would be okay to say things like that, because he had never talked to alphas other than his father, Junho, and Hyungjun, and they never liked it if he talked too much. In fact, he rarely talked to other humans, so he wasn’t sure what to do.

They sat there in silence, with Baekhyun’s fingers now had moved to hold Chanyeol’s pinky instead. Then Junmyeon got back to the room, looking distressed despite how hard he forced the smile on his face. But Chanyeol knew him well enough to know that he was not smiling at all.

“They’ve got the report of his death and currently, they're in his house,” the beta informed. The look he sent to Baekhyun let Chanyeol know that he wasn't going to like what was about to come out next.

“They want to talk to you, Baekhyun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you're thinking! Comments always motivate me <3


	3. Home

“No,” Chanyeol growled, immediately standing in front of the omega. “ _No._ Are you _insane_? What if they start accusing him? Then what?” He heard the omega whimpered from behind him, but his tight clutch at the back of his shirt told him that he wasn’t scared of him.

“Chanyeol,” Junmyeon sighed. “He needs to go. It will be more dangerous for him if he doesn’t. And they want him as a witness, nothing else.”

“No. Your friend could have lied. I’m not risking it.”

The beta frowned at his friend’s odd behavior. He had been questioning the way Chanyepl acted the moment he met Baekhyun, but he didn’t really think about it then—too busy thinking about the young omega instead.

He knew Chanyeol had always been soft hearted, borderline possessive even, especially towards those that needed help. But the way he acted showed that it wasn’t just kindness, that he didn’t act so possessive towards Baekhyun because he was worried. There was something else, something he was almost certain of.

The way Chanyeol turned slightly to pat Baekhyun’s head ever so gently to calm him made it clear to Junmyeon.

“Can we talk?” He asked. “Alone?” Before Chanyeol could reject—and he knew he would—Junmyeon was quick to whisper, “he’s safe here and it’s something I’m not sure you want him to hear.”

At that, the alpha stared at him in distaste, before he realized how serious Junmyeon was and sighed. He turned around and lowered his body to say something to Baekhyun, making the omega let go of his tight grasp.

“What’s going on between you and him?” Junmyeon immediately asked once they were in his bedroom. He already knew the answer, but still wanted to hear it from Chanyeol’s own lips.

As he had expected, the alpha bit his lower lip, contemplating whether to answer or not. He thought he wouldn’t hear any, when he finally did. “He’s my mate.”

Even though he already guessed, he was still surprised, because Chanyeol sounded uncertain, and uncertainty was not a part of Chanyeol—at least ever since he knew him. “Does he…?”

“I don’t think so,” Chanyeol sighed. “I mean, maybe his wolf does, since he—he said something about my scent earlier.” The tips of Chanyeol’s ears turned pink, showing how happy he was.

“Well, the boy’s been through so much,” the beta said. “And with this thing happening too—I guess being mated to someone is the last thing in his mind.”

Chanyeol’s wolf whined at that, not fully understanding _why_ he couldn’t be with his mate. But there were more important matters, and Chanyeol wanted his mate to be safe, even if he wasn’t acknowledged, so he ignored his wolf's whines.

“He still needs to go, Chanyeol,” Junmyeon said quietly in order to not anger the alpha. “Only as a witness, my friend swore for it.”

“I _can’t_ risk it. Myeon, I’ve just met him.”

“If not, it’ll be so much worse, Yeol. He could be the suspect, since he’s one of the few people that lives there.”

“But it’s not him,” Chanyeol snapped. “You heard him—it must be that, that other alpha—Hyungjae? Whatever his name is, it must be him. I mean—look at Baekhyun! He’s so _small_ , even though he might be stronger than he looks, what can he do against an alpha like Junho?”

They both became quiet, thinking about what to do next. It was quite risky, because Junmyeon’s friend could have lied, and it was only a trap to make Baekhyun the suspect. But if they didn’t show up, it would be harder for the little omega. He couldn't run away from it forever too, especially in their small town. And Chanyeol doubt Baekhyun would want to move to another town all by himself.

“Okay,” Chanyeol finally said. “Let’s ask him. If he wants to go, then we’ll go. I mean, it’s only right to let him decide.” His wolf barked at him for saying that, because he had made his own decision—Baekhyun needed to be completely safe, even if it meant that he had to runaway with him, or fight the police for him. But it wasn’t his or Junmyeon's decision to make.

They walked out to find Baekhyun hugging his knees on the floor, seemingly on his way to sleep. It hurt Chanyeol’s heart to know that the peaceful look would disappear soon.

“Baekhyun,” he called. The omega looked up to him immediately with a frown on his face. “Do you want to go?”

Baekhyun whimpered at the question. “I—I don’t know,” he said quietly, seemingly taken aback that he was the one who got to decide what to do.

“If you don’t want to go, we’ll find a way,” Chanyeol said, even though he didn’t know what he would do. But if Baekhyun said he didn’t want to, he was sure as hell he wouldn’t let anyone get to his mate no matter what.

The omega worried his lower lip as he looked down to his clasped hands. The burnt scent could be smelled again, but before Chanyeol could say something, Junmyeon held his hand, as if telling him to let Baekhyun make his own decision.

After a while, Baekhyun looked up again, still with a frown on his face. “Will you come?” He asked Chanyeol directly.

It fluttered his heart to know that it was the first thing the omega asked—as if his presence would determine his decision.

“Of course, Baek,” he smiled. “I’ll go with you if you want.”

“I’d like that,” Baekhyun whispered shyly. “You’ll come with us too, right, Jun?”

“Yes, Baekhyun.” The omega nodded at his answer. “So, you’ll go there?”

“Yes,” Baekhyun said, a little uncertain, but no longer smelled like burnt vanilla. “But don’t leave me.”

Chanyeol wondered if it was physically possible for him to leave Baekhyun.

The police station had never been a pleasant place.

Especially in their neighborhood, where the police station looked like the gloomiest place, filled with Alphas, Betas, and a small number of Omegas that seemed as if they didn’t really care about what was happening around them. It was not a surprise, since a lot of powerful people paid them to do exactly nothing. Even if there was a good officer there, they couldn’t do much, or else they’d be transferred to a more dangerous city, or lost their job completely.

Baekhyun held on to Chanyeol’s pinky the moment they got inside. The slight tremble could be felt by Chanyeol because of that, and he wanted nothing more but to hold Baekhyun close to him. But he knew he couldn’t—at least not yet, when it could probably make him more scared, more terrified.

“Junmyeon!”

The three of them were approached by an alpha, as tall as Junmyeon but much more intimidating with his cat eyes. 

“Minseok,” Junmyeon said quietly. “This is Baekhyun, your witness.” He pushed Baekhyun a little bit to the front, making him let go of his little grasp on Chanyeol's finger.

Chanyeol had to swallow his growl when Minseok smiled and shook the omega’s hand. There was something about Minseok’s smile that got to his nerves, as if he knew something Chanyeol didn’t, or as if he was planning something cunning.

“Hello, Baekhyun,” Minseok said. “Thank you for cooperating. We’re going to ask you some questions in another room while your friends wait here, but don’t worry,” he quickly added when he noticed Chanyeol’s anger at the mention of Baekhyun being taken away, “the officer that would be with you is an omega, not me. Now, you’d have to be completely honest, okay? If you didn’t do anything, then there’s nothing to hide. Is that clear?”

“Yes,” Baekhyun mumbled, looking like he also didn’t like the idea of going inside alone. He glanced to where Chanyeol was at, as if he was afraid Chanyeol would leave him the moment he left.

“We’ll be waiting here,” Chanyeol said softly. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”

“This _is_ the police station, you know,” Minseok chided, only to earn a snort from Chanyeol. “Okay, come with me, Baekhyun.”

After earning a reassuring squeeze on his hand from Chanyeol, Baekhyun reluctantly let go and went with Minseok. He kept on looking back with every step he took, as if he was scared still, until they went to another room and Chanyeol and Junmyeon’s figures disappeared completely.

"They won't go, you know," Minseok laughed. "Your alpha won't leave this place until you return."

Baekhyun was a little bit confused as to why Minseok referred to Chanyeol as his alpha, but there was a comfortable warmth inside his heart when he heard it, so he just kept quiet. They walked further and further into the building, until they reached a gray colored door. The door was slightly opened, and Baekhyun could smell another omega inside it.

“Oh, before we start the questioning, there’s someone who’d like to see you,” Minseok said, closing the door. Before Baekhyun could ask, he smelled _him_. The scent of grass, overpowered with the scent of mud and something rotten. He shivered in fear, stopping completely in his track, looking like he wanted to go back to where Chanyeol's comforting scent was. And there he was, the alpha, looking the most sinister than Baekhyun had ever seen in the past year since he first met him.

“Hello, Baekhyun.”

“I don’t like it,” Chanyeol said for the umpteenth of time.

“It’s normal for him to feel restless, but I assure you Chanyeol, nothing happened to him.”

The alpha hadn’t stopped pacing in the waiting room ever since the omega had left. Even though they were far from each other, he could easily pick up Baekhyun’s distressed scent. It wasn’t as bad as twenty minutes before, when the scent suddenly appeared and almost made Chanyeol punch an officer in the face for not letting him go. But after a smack from Junmyeon, he managed to stay in the waiting room, despite the way his wolf was clawing at him.

“It takes too long,” he bit his lower lip. “Why does it take so long? Junmyeon, if they made him a suspect—”

“We won’t.”

Chanyeol turned around and saw Minseok looking annoyed at his accusation. Behind the alpha, Baekhyun was standing with his head lowered. The burnt vanilla scent lingered softly.

"You need to stop making it seem as if we're _that_ bad," Minseok sighed.

“Baekhyun. Are you okay?” Chanyeol ignored the officer and walked to Baekhyun. It relieved him when the omega looked up to him immediately and smiled a little.

“I’m okay,” he said softly, but there was something in his eyes that made Chanyeol feel like he was lying.

“Are we done here?” Junmyeon asked Minseok. The alpha smiled, almost teasingly from the way his lips curled like a feline.

“All good.”

“Baekhyun’s not coming here anymore, is he?” Chanyeol pressed.

“Nope. Unless he wants to, of course,” the alpha—the fucking audacity he had—winked at the flustered omega. It took everything in Chanyeol not to wipe that smug smile from him by giving him a good punch. “Chill out, alpha,” Minseok said with a laugh.

“What happened to Junho then?” Junmyeon asked. Chanyeol didn’t miss the way Baekhyun tensed a little at the question, and instinctively, he offered his hand for Baekhyun to take.

“Oh, heart attack.” The way Minseok said it was so casual that no one would ever suspect that he lied. But the three of them knew.

“Heart attack?” Junmyeon repeated.

“Yeah. He’s quite old, so it’s not surprising.”

“What about Baekhyun then?” Chanyeol asked, afraid that somehow the boy would be returned to his father, or given to Junho’s right hand man. The grip on his fingers tightened as once again, Baekhyun lowered his head. "Will he be staying there?"

“Well, nobody really knows that he’s Junho’s omega,” Chanyeol cringed at that, but then scolded himself because Baekhyun, despite being his mate, was not his either, “so, it’s up to the new owner whether they would let him stay or not.”

“New owner?”

As if on cue, an alpha approached them, with a female omega trailing behind his back. From his foul scent and the way Baekhyun tried to hide behind him, Chanyeol could already guess who he was.

“Hello. Jeon Hyungjun. Pleasure to meet you,” the alpha said with a disgusting smile etched on his face. He held out his hand for Chanyeol to take, but he only stared at it passively. Realising Chanyeol’s hostile attitude, he retracted his hand, still smiling, and turned his attention to Baekhyun.

“Are they your friends, Baekhyun?” Hyungjun asked with a fake concern. “I never knew you had friends outside from the people Junho let you meet.”

“Don’t talk to him,” Chanyeol hissed when Baekhyun whimpered quietly, only could be heard by him.

Hyungjun merely laughed at his words. “I don’t mean any harm. Just ask the boy. Never done anything to him. In fact, I save him, you could say. He should thank me for that.”

“He owes you nothing,” Chanyeol spat. If it weren’t for the grip Baekhyun had on his hand, he would have punched Hyungjun. Next to him, Junmyeon was sending him warning look to not act impulsively, knowing too well that Hyungjun must have had the police wrapped around his fingers.

“C-can we leave?” Baekhyun whispered, clearly not comfortable about the situation. Chanyeol would have said no, at least until it was clear that Baekhyun was safe and would never be in contact with Hyungjun or anyone related to Junho. But the omega clearly couldn’t be in the same room as the alpha one second longer.

“Go,” Junmyeon said. “I’ll take care of this.” The vet gave his car key, which Chanyeol accepted reluctantly. Giving Hyungjun one more warning glare, he led Baekhyun out of the station.

“Did he do something to you earlier?” Chanyeol asked once they were in the back seat of Junmyeon’s car. Baekhyun no longer held his hand—since he let go earlier to turn the engine on—but still sat close to him. The burnt scent had disappeared, but he was still trembling a little.

“No,” Baekhyun muttered. From the way he averted his eyes and fiddled with his fingers, Chanyeol knew that he was lying. He wanted to ask again, but afraid that it would only make Baekhyun more reluctant to share his problems.

“Is it true? That Junho died because of heart attack?” The alpha asked instead. Again, Baekhyun refused to look into his eyes and answered him with a shrug. Chanyeol decided to not ask anymore. He was still burning with anger because of what happened—because this happened to his mate. What would happen to him then? Would Hyungjun ask him to go back to the mansion? Or would he—would he give him away since he had no use of Baekhyun?

Baekhyun seemed to sense his anger, his worry, because slowly, he moved closer to Chanyeol. They weren’t touching, but the distance was enough to let Chanyeol drown in the omega’s sweet, calming scent. He almost wanted to cry when he realized that he was the one being comforted instead.

It didn’t take long until Junmyeon entered the car. He didn’t look pleased, but not exactly angry too. He let out a deep sigh before he turned around to face them, a little frown adorning his flawless face.

“Hyungjun said you are free to go,” the beta said straightforwardly. Both Chanyeol and Baekhyun let out the breath they didn’t know they had been holding.

“Just like that? That easy?”

“Well, he already has a mate—that girl behind him. He—he did say that Baekhyun was welcomed to stay,” Baekhyun let out a whimper at that, making Chanyeol growled unconsciously and moved closer to him, “but the choice is yours.”

With both the alpha and the beta staring at him, Baekhyun lowered his eyes again, something that Chanyeol learned he did a lot when he had to make a decision, or was feeling pressured. They let him take his time thinking, knowing he had a lot to think about.

“Where—where should I go?” Baekhyun asked, voice cracking a little towards the end. It was then Chanyeol realized that the poor boy had cried again, for the umpteenth time that day. Immediately, he grabbed his hand and released his calming pheromones. “I-I don’t want to go back to—to dad’s house,” he cried. The hold he had on Chanyeol’s hand was tight, as if he was afraid Chanyeol would let him go back to his father’s house.

“You can stay with me,” Junmyeon offered, holding his other hand. “If you want to, you can stay with me. I have empty rooms—you can choose the one you like.”

Chanyeol’s wolf growled at him at the suggestion. Baekhyun was _his_ mate; he was supposed to stay in _his_ house with him. He had empty rooms too, and he would take such good care of his mate. Why did he have to stay with Junmyeon?

But Chanyeol knew that the last thing Baekhyun need was to live with another alpha. Especially since the omega seemed oblivious still about the fact that they were mates. If Baekhyun wanted to, he could request to stay in Chanyeol’s house. But he would not suggest it, let alone force him to do it. The last thing he wanted to do was to make Baekhyun feel like he was just an omega that shouldn’t make his own decision; that felt like he was a property of an alpha.

“R-really?” Baekhyun wiped his tears and looked at Junmyeon. “I can stay with you?”

Junmyeon glanced at Chanyeol and raised his eyebrow, silently asking if Chanyeol as okay with the idea. When he received a quick nod, he turned to Baekhyun again. “Of course. If you want to, I’ll be happy to have a company.”

“I want to!” Baekhyun said quickly, as if he was afraid Junmyeon would change his mind if he answered a second too late. Suddenly he turned to look at Chanyeol. “But will you—will you come and visit me?” He pouted.

Chanyeol was so close to pinch his squishy cheeks, and maybe planted a little kiss or two on his strawberry lips, but he managed to hold himself back. In the end, he settled with a gentle squeeze. “Definitely. I’ll visit you every day.” The smile he received from the omega calmed his wolf down. Maybe Baekhyun hadn’t realized they were mates yet, but at least he showed that he liked Chanyeol’s presence and wanted him near.

“O-oh, but my clothes are in the mansion.”

“Hyungjun said we can take your clothes, and your other belongings as long as they’re not something valuable that Junho gave you.”

“I just want my clothes,” Baekhyun mumbled. “Junho never gave me anything, aside from clothes and makeup. But I don’t like them.”

“Okay. I’ll call him to let him know that we’re coming to get them for you,” Junmyeon said. “In the mean time, let’s go home, okay?”

The way Baekhyun beamed at the word ‘home’ broke their hearts and tugged at their heartstrings at the same time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took so long! i hope this chapter is not too disappointing because it's so simple ;_;  
> Please let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment! They always motivate me <3

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave comments and tell me your thoughts :3  
> Also, I'll be happy if you want to be my beta/someone i can discuss this story to hehe  
> my twitter is @exosimp if you're interested :3


End file.
